


I'll Meet you by the River

by Chat_3_Noir



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Prince/Pauper AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 01:25:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3231017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chat_3_Noir/pseuds/Chat_3_Noir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico has been getting in fights with his father, Hades, a lot more ever since his mother and sister, Maria and Bianca, had died. Every time it got too overwhelming, he snuck out of the palace grounds and down to his favorite spot to sit and gather his thoughts. It was there he would meet someone who would change his life for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Meeting

Nico stormed angrily into his room, slamming the heavy oak door and sitting on his four poster bed hung with elaborate drapes to cast blue light through the room from the wide window overlooking the grounds of the castle. But Nico wasn't in the mood to appreciate the luxury of his room, nor did he know anything else beside it. He stared angrily out the window, then stood up and strode around his room, running his hands through his longer-than-normal hair. Nico's father usually had it cut to fit palace standards, but Nico had been avoiding him lately. He stopped pacing suddenly, looking over to a trunk concealed behind the floor-to-ceiling mirror taken off the wall and propped on the floor. He strode over, his anger forgotten, and unlocked it with a heavy iron key concealed behind a chest of drawers. Inside was nothing special, just a pair of raggedy pants and a plain tunic with a worn leather belt. Nico hurriedly changed into them, then opened the wide widow overlooking the grounds and shimmied down the ivy growing in a winding ladder down to the grounds.  
  
As soon as Nico hit the ground, he took off running, dodging behind trees and bushes, trying his hardest not to be spotted. He finally came to the towering brick wall surrounding the palace grounds and walked along it until he found a tree with a long limb stretching well over the wall to the other side. Nico scaled the tree with the skill of someone who'd been practicing for quite some time, and dropped to the ground on the other side, rolling on the heather to avoid breaking any bones. He stood, brushed himself off, and took off into the woods, quickly finding a small brook and steadily following it deeper into the forest.  
  
Eventually the brook widened into a stream, and that widened into a river. Nico skirted the edge until he found a tall winding oak, easily the biggest tree in the surrounding area. A low branch hung suspended over the river where one's feet could hang a few feet above the river, spray pleasantly tickling the soles. Nico swung himself up onto the branch and sat with his back to the trunk, one foot hanging and the other tucked beneath that leg to keep balance. After awhile, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Nico woke a while later to the sound of someone rowing upstream. He panicked, trying to jump down from the tree, but his foot stopped him; it was overcome with pins and needles. As Nico sat shaking his foot over the river and cursing, a small wooden boat came into view, its only passenger a boy about Nico's age with bright blond hair and deeply tanned skin. Nico sat so his face was hidden by the shade of the canopy of leaves above him and shouted to the boy, “Who goes there?"  
  
The boy started, and then searched for the source of the voice, finally locating Nico in the tree. "It's Will Solace. I say, what are you doing up there? Shouldn't you be working? Or are you hiding from your folks?" He asked matter-of-factly, staring Nico down with a piercing blue gaze. Nico lifted his chin and straightened his posture.  
  
"I guess you could say that. My dad and I had a little disagreement, you see. I was seeking a little calm."  
  
Will nodded knowingly, eyeing Nico curiously. "Want me to keep you company? It must get awful boring up there alone."  
  
Nico shrugged. To be honest, he wouldn't mind company. Although, he should be getting back before his dad started looking for him. If his dad found him like this, out here, he'd be dead. "Sure. For a little bit. I have to get back soon."  
  
Will nodded and docked at the bank next to the tree, then clambered up to the tree next to Nico and sat, still giving Nico that unwavering stare. Nico stubbornly stared back, not wanting to back down. Suddenly, Will laughed out loud, startling Nico. "Why're you staring at me like that?" Will asked, a teasing tone to his voice. Nico's cheeks colored and he drew himself up, opening his mouth to tell this peasant boy exactly _who_ he was talking to.  
  
"I—" Nico cut himself off, changing his mind. "I don't know." He said finally.  
  
Will lifted his eyebrows quizzically.  "What exactly did your dad do to you? You don't look that marked up." He said.  
  
"I— _what?!"_ Nico sputtered. "My dad doesn't hit me! It was an _argument!"_ He exclaimed.  
  
"Calm down, stiff. I just wanted to know."  
  
"Awfully nosy of you." Nico remarked, embarrassed by his outburst.  
  
Will nodded enthusiastically. "I'm curious to what it's like with a dad. My dad's dead, see? He died when I was small. It's just me and my mom. We're healers."  
  
Nico turned away, muttering, “Sorry." He didn't quite know what to say.  
  
"It's fine. I didn't know him that well anyway." Will said cheerily, swing his feet over the river. "Hey, you look familiar; I can't just put my finger on it. Do you live down at my village?"  
  
Nico's eyes widened, and he shook his head, saying, “No, no! I don't know you and you don't know me. Besides, I've got to go. It's getting late, and my dad'll look for me." Nico scampered over Will's legs and climbed down the tree without waiting for a reply. He barely heard Will call, “Same time next Tuesday!" before he reached the wall and scaled the ivy climbing the wall, dropping silently into the castle grounds. Soon enough, he was dressed in his finery again, his disguise stowed away in the trunk and hidden safely behind the mirror. Nico strolled through the castle down to dinner to eat silently with his father and his dinner guests, dreading it with every step.  
  
Nico didn't have another thought about Will Solace.


	2. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After another disagreement with his father, Nico meets with Will by accident in the tree by the river.

Nico stayed away from his father for the next couple of weeks, avoiding him except for supper when he was forced to dine with him. However, he remained rebellious by not speaking at all to his father during mealtimes, eating his food course after course as fast as he could and then leaving to walk the grounds or go horse riding or any other activity not involving Hades. Eventually, though, his father put a stop to this.

Nico trudged along the corridor to his father’s study to where he’d been summoned. A guard marched along behind him, his back straight as a broomstick, sent with Nico to make sure he made it all the way to his father’s study. They finally reached the door and the guard stood at attention next to the door, waiting to see Nico into the room. Nico sighed and knocked heavily on his father’s door, standing with his arms crossed impatiently until his father called in his deep cold voice, “Enter.” Nico shouldered open the heavy door and strode into the room, letting it fall closed behind him with an echoing _boom._

“Sit.” His father said without looking up from the papers littering his desk. Nico sat heavily in the high backed chair in front of his father, looking down at his crossed arms in that typical disgruntled-teenager form. Soon he heard his father speak, but he kept his head down stubbornly, listening intently to his father.

“Nico. We both know that someday you will be king after my death, and I would like to do my best to prepare you for the burden of this—ah, _job._ For one, you need to have a wife to provide an heir to the throne and to rule as your queen. I have some suggestions for which women you may take to be your bride, and I would like you to hear them out.”

Nico’s head snapped up at that sentence, and his dark brown eyes narrowed angrily. “Since when did I give you power to pick who I marry?” he asked

Hades’s eyes sparked with anger, and he answered in a dangerously quiet voice, “I am King. I command everyone in this country, most of all my son.”

Nico stood and balled his hands at his sides angrily, his expression growing colder than it was before. “I believe I should pick the person I am going to marry, the person I will spend _the rest of my life with?”_ His voice rose steadily as he talked until he was red in the face.

Hades’s face twisted into a mask of fury and he stood too, his fists balled at his sides. “Watch your mouth. I can still have you thrown into jail, even if you are my son. Now sit _down.”_  

Nico stood and stared at his father angrily for a couple more minutes, then sat testily on the chair, looking down again.

Hades settled himself back on his throne before continuing, “As I was _saying,_ there are many women that would find you as a suitable husband. I was thinking the princess of Norway particularly.”

Nico bristled, and shot back at his father, “Was your marriage with mother arranged, then? Is that why you didn’t give a fuck when she died?”

Hades narrowed his eyes, his face growing red from suppressed rage. “You—boy—you know _nothing_ of my relationship with your mother. Now shut up and listen before I throw you in the goddamned dungeons.” Hades sighed and leaned back in his throne, his hands folded over his stomach. “You were always dramatic like this, weren’t you? You got it from _her,_ you know. Your mother.”

At those words, Nico stood and left the room without another word. He was _angry;_ angrier than he’d been in a long time. It had been roughly two weeks since his last visit to the tree. Maybe it was time to pay another visit.

He rushed to his room in a daze and changed fast, and in less than ten minutes, he was climbing down the ivy and scaling the tree, dropping to the ground and running up the brook, which turned into a stream, which turned into a roaring river. Soon enough he came upon his tree and settled himself in a fairly comfortable position and became still as stone, gazing into the water and lost in thought.

He was shaken from his daze by the splashing of oars up the river; only then did Will Solace come to his mind. Sure enough, that’s who it was.

Will jumped down excitedly after he docked his boat and scrambled up the trunk, settling himself on the branch next to Nico and beaming at him. “Hey! I haven’t seen you in _two weeks!_ Where’ve you been?”

“I’ve been busy.” Answered Nico, which wasn’t strictly true. There wasn’t a lot to do in the castle, and he’d been bored out of his mind.

“So how’re things with your dad?” Will asked casually, flicking a small flower bud from his pant leg.

“Awful!” Nico burst out. “He wants me to marry some girl I don’t even know!”

“He wants you to marry up, does he? Using you for money?” asked Will. “My mom wants me to do that, but she’d never force me. Besides, we’re not that bad off.”

Nico eyed Will’s threadbare trousers and ragged oversized smock. “You’re not looking too good.” He said matter-of-factly.

“You’re not looking too great yourself, hotshot.” Will answered, smirking and eyeing Nico up and down. Nico turned pink and looked down at the water, doggedly avoiding Will’s gaze.  

“Where do you live, anyway?” inquired Will curiously. “I haven’t met any Nico’s in the village or the village over from mine. How far away do you live?”

_Closer than you think,_ Nico thought. “I live pretty far out.” He finally answered, kicking his feet idly over the river.

“Oh.” said Will, looking crestfallen. “I was thinking we could meet more often, but I guess you can’t make the trip every other day.

Nico nodded sympathetically. “We could meet weekly. How about every Tuesday? I’ll come if I can.”

Will perked up, grinning crookedly at Nico. “That’d be great!” he said.

“Don’t get too excited.” Nico said gruffly, but he was wearing a suppressed grin.

“’Till next week?” asked Will, grinning.

“Sure.” Nico answered, feeling considerably lighter. At least he had something to look forward to besides arguments with his father and more lessons in French. Nico and Will climbed down the tree trunk single file and went in opposite directions; one up the river and one down. Nico was grinning all the way. At least he had an actual friend.

That night Hades and Nico ate dinner in silence, studiously ignoring each other. After Nico had bathed and slipped into his pajamas, he went to lie down in his four poster bed. As he lay between his silken sheets, he thought of Will and Will’s laughing face, delighting in Nico’s company.  Nico smiled to himself in the darkness and promptly fell asleep, for once at ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy thanks for reading! This fic is churning out of me like crazy; I haven't been writing like this in forever. Please leave feedback in the comments and tell me how you like it so far! :3


	3. Horrible Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hades invites over a suitor to marry Nico, and Will becomes suspicious.

Only a week after Nico had established his meeting time with Will, his plans were ruined by a sudden rainstorm that blew in from nowhere. He was sure Will couldn't make it up the river in this gale; and he couldn't go down to the river and run the risk of ruining his clothes. So, he resigned himself to a day of sitting and avoiding his father while staring out the window at the rain soaked garden surrounding the castle. Whenever Nico had time to himself, he always thought too much. About his mother, his sister, and his old friend Perseus, son of the local fisherman. When he was younger he would always hang off his nurse's leg while she bought fish from the tanned boy with sea green eyes and dark hair. They became close friends until his father put a stop to him going outside the castle after Bianca was killed by a mob of rebels.

Bianca's death, which came a few years after his mother's death, still bothered him greatly even five years after. He still woke up to nightmares about her being surrounded and beaten bloody, and that final punch to the face that made her nose drive into her brain, killing her instantly. He still sat on his bed sometimes and rocked back in forth, struggling for breath, wracked with survivor's guilt and wondering what would've happened if he had stepped in and saved her. Today was one of those days. He sat and stared out the window, his body shaking while he lost himself in thought.

Suddenly the door opened and his father stepped in, awkwardly closing the door behind him and sitting on the edge of Nico's bed. "Son, I have invited the princess of Norway to come stay with us for a while and see the castle."

Nico grimaced, not turning to his dad. It was happening. Hades was going to marry him off to some princess or baroness or duchess, then he would be expected to produce an _heir_ with a woman he hardly knew. Nico shuddered at the very thought. "Can you just leave me be for right now? I really don't want to talk to you right now."

His dad didn't reply; Hades just stood and walked out the door, shutting it quietly to close it. Nico waited fifteen minutes to make sure his dad was really gone, and then put on his disguise. He didn't care if he messed up his disguise; he had to talk to Will. Hopefully he was out there. After sneaking across the grounds and hoisting himself over the wall and following the river, his tree came into sight. Even from a couple yards away, he could see the bright blond head of his friend glinting through the downpour. He reached the base of the tree and clambered up next to Will, holding his legs up against his chest to prevent his feet from dragging in the rising river.

Will smiled brightly when Nico showed up, flipping the wet hair away from his face with a flick of his head. "Hey, Nico. I was afraid you weren't going to show." Nico smiled a little, glad Will was so eager to see him. "Well, my dad decided to invite the pri--the girl he wants me to marry over and to get us married within the week."

Will frowned, and his expression grew sad, making Nico want to comfort him. "Maybe you could try talking this through with your dad? Maybe he doesn't quite...know how you feel about the matter."

Nico laughed. "He knows how I feel. I've told so many times I can't even count. He just wants an heir."

"He wants an heir?"

"Wha--uh, yeah. For his, uh...his..."

"Nico," Will said suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"I'm--I'm no one. No one important. I--I have to go." Nico scrambled down the tree as fast as he could, then sprinted through the rain, cursing his slip of the tongue. He and Will could've remained close for a while without him ever finding out who he was, but he had to screw everything up by talking with out thinking. Despite the fact that Nico had only known Will for a couple weeks, and they hadn't really gotten close, he felt an ache behind his eyes that he knew all too well to be a waterfall of tears. His throat grew tight and his eyes wet as he climbed the ivy back into his room. He dropped lightly onto his bed and cast his wet things onto the floor. He pulled on a fluffy robe and lay on his bed, tears starting to leak out the corners of his eyes. Will had been the only person he could talk to without being judged or worshipped as a king's son always was. After he had cried himself dry, he got up and picked up his disguise and carefully hung the shirt and pants over the edge of his dresser, hoping they would dry. Then he went to sleep and tried not to think of the Norwegian princess visiting in just a week, hoping to marry him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the long wait. I've been soo busy with school and I've had no time to write. But I'm on spring break so I'll have plenty of time to add chapters on this fic! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh sorry this chapter was so short I'll do a longer one later. This just felt like the right length uwu. I'll probably be adding more to this, and eventually it'll grow into a long, multi-chapter fic. Also, this was inspired by this picture: http://ericscottpfeiffer.tumblr.com/post/77093946731/recent-illustration-commission-for-dan-heidts. I thought it was a really lovely picture, and it made me want to write again :3 please comment and leave some feedback; constructive criticism is welcome, but no hate, please :)


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